Self-Relevant Threatening Messages Promote Vigilance Toward Coping Information: Evidence of Positive Processing at Attentional Level

Jérôme Blondé (1) , Fabien Girandola (2)

1 LPS - Laboratoire de Psychologie Sociale
2 SPMS - Laboratoire de Socio-Psychologie et Management du Sport

Research has widely established that self-relevant threatening messages are effective persuasive strategies. However, very little is known about attentional processes underlying their beneficial effects. In the present research, we hypothesized that the exposure to threatening messages is likely to engage people in attentional vigilance toward coping information. Three studies examined and found support for this prediction. By using an emotional Stroop task, Study 1 revealed that, among participants high in vulnerability, those exposed to a high-threatening message reported vigilant processing of coping information. Study 2 replicated these findings by employing a dot-probe task. Study 3 demonstrated, however, that such processing depends on how much coping information is effective at protecting from the threat. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Keywords: Threatening messages; Attention; Coping information

Domains: Humanities and Social Sciences; Humanities and Social Sciences; Psychology

Jérôme Blondé, Fabien Girandola. Self-Relevant Threatening Messages Promote Vigilance Toward Coping Information: Evidence of Positive Processing at Attentional Level. Social Cognition, 2018, 36 (4), pp.411-441. ⟨10.1521/soco.2018.36.4.411⟩. ⟨hal-02074254⟩